1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a postprocessing apparatus and postprocessing method. In particular, the invention relates to a postprocessing apparatus and postprocessing method, for conducting postprocessing on an image forming member having an image formed thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of information communication devices, upgrading of communication infrastructures, and spread of personal computers in recent years, it has become possible to: acquire a large amount of information via electronic media which record and transfer electronic information; and, process that information on computers. On the other hand, as a medium for recording and transferring information, paper has been used from a long time ago. Still now, various kinds of information are send and exchanged by using paper as a medium such as post cards, letters, books and newspapers.
Both electronic media and the paper medium have their respective merits. Electronic media are excellent in terms of processability, reusability, ease of retrieval of information, and ease of linking information. On the other hand, the paper medium is excellent in terms of ease of seeing at a glance, portability and substantiality. Therefore, it would be ideal if electronic media and the paper medium could mutually complement each other, making the most of mutual merits, instead of replacing the paper medium with electronic media.
Information on an electronic medium can be converted to information on a paper medium by “printing.” During the process of printing, however, digital information on an electronic medium can be lost. Furthermore, information on a paper medium can be converted to information on an electronic medium by using a character recognition apparatus such as an OCR (Optical Character Reader) and the like. In techniques of image recognition, however, there is a limit to the recognition performance and conversion speed.
In order to solve these problems, various methods of printing a code which can be converted into digital code, such as the Glyphe code or a two-dimensional bar code, and the like, have been proposed. For example, a system that fuses information on the WWW (World Wide Web) and information on a paper medium has been proposed. This is done by representing URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) to information which is related to that which is printed on a paper medium using a two-dimensional code and printing this two-dimensional code on the paper medium (e.g., see “A Study for linking between WWW and paper by 2D code,” Human Interface 76-1, Information Media 33-1, Jan. 29, 1998).
As a two-dimensional code, for example, the “QR code (R)” can be used. By using a QR code (R) of 41 by 41 cells, 134-bytes of data can be stored (recorded), and this is sufficient for describing URL information or ID information. By using this system, it becomes possible to: read the QR code (R) provided on the paper medium; access a URL on the WWW; and, obtain electronic information corresponding to information on the paper medium, as the occasion demands.
Recently, a subminiature semiconductor chip named “μ-chip (R)” from which data stored in it can be read externally without contact and which can be embedded in paper or the like has been developed (e.g., see MYCOM PC WEB, NEWS HEADLINE, Jul. 5, 2001; http://pcweb.mycom.co.jp/news/2001/07/5/22. html). By embedding a μ-chip (R) storing URL information and ID information in a paper medium, it becomes possible to read out this information without contact.
As a recording medium on which an image can be formed by a copying machine or the like in the same way as the paper medium, there is also an “OHP sheet.” There are suitable specifications for OHP sheets for each type of copying machine, thus it is desirable to use genuine articles corresponding to the copying machine type. Therefore, an OHP sheet which can be verified as to whether it is a genuine article or not, by using a reproduced image from a transparent hologram provided on the sheet, has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 09-090665).
In addition, a printing apparatus for transferring and printing a hologram image on a display medium, such as paper, using a thermal head and a transfer foil ribbon, having a hologram pattern formed previously thereon has been proposed. Also a display medium created by the above printing apparatus has been proposed (see JP-A No. 2000-211257). In this printing apparatus, on-demand printing of a hologram image can be conducted.
However, the above-described two-dimensional code and semiconductor chips only have at most several hundreds of bytes of storage capacity. This storage capacity is enough to store URL information and ID information, but it is far too little to store all the information printed on a paper medium in electronic form. In the end, there are no methods other than to: provide a server, for storing and managing electronic information as a data center; and extracting large volumes of electronic information from the server, by using URL information or ID information, extracted from two-dimensional codes or semiconductor chips as a key. Therefore, there is a problem in that the system cannot help but be very large in scale where electronic information previously stored in the server, corresponding to information on a paper medium, is managed by using IDs.
Furthermore, the previously described μ-chip (R) is dedicated to reading, and it cannot be written with new information or information stored on it rewritten. Therefore, there is a problem that the μ-chip (R) is not suitable for on-demand printing in which it is necessary to store different information for each pages of paper medium. On the other hand, a hologram recording media has a larger storage capacity than the two-dimensional code or semiconductor chip. However, the conventional hologram recording media, such as a relief-type hologram, having convexo-concave patterns formed on a plastic film by pressing, is dedicated to reading, and it is, in the same way, not suitable for on-demand printing.
Furthermore, a paper medium having a semiconductor chip embedded therein is harmful to the environment, and cannot be discarded as it is. Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to sort out paper media having semiconductor chips embedded therein and separately recover the semiconductor chips when discarding paper media.
In addition, a display medium having a holographic image produced by on-demand printing is proposed in JP-A No. 2000-211257. However, the holographic image is used visually, and invisible electronic information cannot be added to the display medium.